In the art world, reputation travels fast, and Tabitha Taylor Cooper and Lauren Beth Petersen have turned windows into business cards. Both are making waves for transforming storefronts, restaurant entrances, and school windows into dynamic showcases, inviting people inside.
Their window art commissions have grown through word of mouth. In Taylor Cooper’s case, it’s now her full-time job. “I always thought it would just be a hobby because of the stigma of starving artists never making money. But I’ve done pretty well for myself,” says the self-taught artist. The Henderson, Kentucky, native’s first gig was painting chalkboards at Hometown Roots at age 17.
“Word got around that I was pretty artsy,” says Taylor Cooper, now 25. “Someone reached out and asked, ‘Do you paint windows?’ And I said, ‘I do now!’ … I started with one client, then it grew to four, then to 10. Long story short, I’ve done 85 different local businesses.” She has completed 40-plus themed window paintings this fall, and her workload is about to spike. Each winter, “I like to joke to my husband, ‘I’ll see you next year,’” she says.
Passersby can view Taylor Cooper’s work in autumn nature scenes at Highland Elementary School and a nod to Reitz Memorial High School football at Casey’s Dugout. She frequently creates window paintings for Give a Dog a Bone, where owner Quincy Zikmund says she mostly has free rein, but — similar to the shop’s marketing — paintings must include a pug. “Our customers absolutely love and look forward to the next window painting,” Zikmund says.
Petersen, a friend of Taylor Cooper, has painted windows since December 2020. The Evansville native worked with autistic children after graduating from the University of Southern Indiana in 2019, but her passion for art — which started with decorating TV remotes, planter pots, and jewelry boxes with positive messages — has become a burgeoning enterprise.
Her window art portfolio includes the Vicki Brasel State Farm insurance office on Vann Avenue, where Petersen, 28, works two days a week. Recent projects include windows at AnnaLe’s Twice Chosen dress shop. Shop owner LeAnna Pace says she and Petersen came up with the “framing memories” theme, and the artist executed it perfectly. “She’s so good that she did it freehand,” Pace says. “She’s very talented.”
Window painting “gets me outside and makes me feel a part of my community,” Petersen says. “It opens up a lot of conversation. And I really like that painting windows benefits both the business I’m working on and my art business. … It is a win-win for everyone.”
